


Challenge

by DracoMaleficium



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Behind the Scenes, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Shippy if you Squint, shortfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-20
Updated: 2014-02-20
Packaged: 2018-01-13 05:10:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1213951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DracoMaleficium/pseuds/DracoMaleficium
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Somehow, they always end up challenging each other. And maybe that's not such a bad thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Challenge

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on [my tumblr](http://dracze.tumblr.com) for a drabble meme; nibi-nn requested "Zutara + Challenge." This ended up being more friendshippy than shippy, but Zutara _is_ one of my many ships so it's there if you wear your Zutara goggles ;)

Zuko bites his lip, hard. The pain grounds him somewhat and helps him reign in the fire that’s throbbing angrily right under his skin.

He promises himself over and over that he will not blow up at Katara, but sometimes…

"All I said," he tries again, not quite managing to keep the fire out of his voice, "is that your _gentle nudge_ is not what Aang needs right now. Firebending is about discipline and hard work, the Comet is only weeks away and we -“

"Oh, that’s rich!" Katara bends the water at the dishes so aggressively as though she was splashing it at him. As she always does. "You’ve been here, what, a few days, and suddenly you’re an expert on teaching Aang? Go ahead, keep talking, _enlighten_ me how I’ve been doing it wrong all this time!”

"That’s not what I - "

"How dare you! You come here like some kind of king of the world, challenging _my_ teaching methods, telling us how to _do_ stuff - “

"No, I didn’t - "

The wet cloth hits him right in the face.

"Here. _You_ can finish the dishes, Mr. Smartass.”

She stalks out before he can recover - which is probably for the best. He doesn’t quite trust himself to speak anymore.

 

***

 

"Would _you_ forgive that man?” Katara asks quietly while Appa glides in the air, over the peaceful ocean.

Zuko doesn’t need any time to ponder the question. “No.”

"Do you think I’m weak for letting him go?"

He looks at the girl beside him, still wearing black, her expression still set in those hard, hard lines, wetness still bright in her eyes. It’ll probably take a while for those lines to smoothen again and for the wetness to dry for good.

He looks away. While he shares in that sorrow, he feels it’s not for him to witness it.

"No," he says again, looking out to the sea. "You’re not weak."

It’s a challenge, in a way. It seems that between the two of them, everything is.

Katara seems to recognize it. She glances at him, briefly, and some of the lines begin to ease.

"Thank you."

 

***

 

"Is that all you’ve got?" he asks, dodging a water whip which nearly tripped him onto the cold sand.

"Don’t try to be cocky, Zuko, you’re not very good at it," she shouts back.

He grins and punches a series of fire blasts at her. She douses them with a powerful wave that roars like the ocean in a storm, and he barely manages to roll away to avoid the worst of the impact.

She’s not holding back. She never has. And neither is he, and it’s wonderful.

He lights up the night with a firewhip while she responds with its water equivalent, and Ember Island throbs with life as the elements clash, dodge, attack again, block, surge, meet. By the time they’re done, they’re exhausted, barely standing up and wearing identical, satisfied grins.

It’s a stalemate.

 

***

 

The crown feels weird in his hair. Zuko has to stop himself from readjusting it every five seconds - they said it should hold, but he’s afraid it’ll fall from his head the moment he turns, and wouldn’t that just be the _perfect_ way to start his reign?

"Stop that," Katara hisses at him. "It’s fine."

"It doesn’t _feel_ fine.”

Katara gives him a long, searching look, and then her mouth curves up in what he now recognizes as sympathy. Somehow, she knows exactly what he means.

"Then I guess you’ll just have to _make_ it fine, won’t you?”

She reaches out for his hand. He looks at her, smiles and draws her into a brief hug instead.

"Thanks," he whispers. Her embrace tightens around him.

"Don’t mess up," she whispers back, "or I’ll kick your butt right into that turtleduck pond you’re so fond of. Now, go."

She gives him one last smile over her shoulder as she leaves to join the crowd. Zuko returns it.

The crown stays on his head.


End file.
